Parago Home launches its new home contents management tool today, in a bid to reduce the staggering number of Brits (90%) who are unable to make accurate home contents insurance claims in the event of a flood, fire or theft. Every day insurance companies are dealing with claims that could be settled immediately if policy holders had the required information to hand.
The system (also available as an iPhone app) is designed to record the true value of our life possessions and to help stop vulnerable home owners from being caught short when insurance pay outs are far less than expected. Recent research has shown that 35 per cent of Brits would only think to insure items such as TVs and furniture under their home contents insurance, but many would forget to cover the value of their wardrobe contents, even though on average people spend around £1000 per year on clothes, shoes and bags[2].
Parago Home reveals the items that are most commonly forgotten by Brits when valuing their home contents:
– Carpets, home furnishings (cushions) and curtains
– Garden tools and equipment (such as lawnmowers, power tools and BBQs)
– Expensive cookware (pots and pans, expensive cutlery sets, kitchen gadgets)
– Children’s toys
– Wardrobe contents (the average person’s wardrobe contents are £10,000)
Jason Cabot, 25 from Reading in Berkshire knows only too well what it is like to be caught short on his home contents insurance: “It was only September 2010 that I returned home from a holiday in Scotland to find my house burgled. I immediately noticed the main items like my television, games console and work laptop had been stolen, but in my panicked state I found it difficult to identify everything. It wasn’t until I went to claim on my home contents insurance that I realised I wasn’t covered for certain items. My insurance company wanted photographic evidence, proof of receipt and at least two replacement-as-new quotes for each item I was claiming for; and except for a few items that I had an email confirmation for I struggled to provide everything they needed for my claim. I am yet to be reimbursed for my claim as it is ongoing but the current estimate is nothing like I had envisaged and I’m expecting to lose out financially. If I had thought to take photographs of all items I wanted covered on my insurance, along with details of receipts for each item – this shortfall could have been avoided.”
Tim Roots, founder of Parago Home comments, “Research shows that all of us are underinsured by as much as 30 per cent and most only realise this when they actually make a claim, at which point it’s too late. As consumers who spend billions on home contents insurance every year, we need to start recognising that the total value of home contents insurance should cover not only the obvious audio equipment and expensive jewellery, but also the contents of our wardrobes, our children’s toys and home furnishings like carpets, curtains and valuable artwork.
“Being underinsured can have a big impact on any home insurance claim you make. For example, if you have £45,000 worth of contents in your home but are only insured for £30,000, your insurer might only pay two thirds of a claim, even if it is for less than £30,000. So, if you only have half the cover you need, your insurer can cap what it pays at half – even if you’re only making a small claim.”
Parago Home is a home contents management system which works on a PC with an internet connection and/or via the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch. It quickly and easily enables the home-owner to create a virtual image of their home…then discover value and record every valuable asset.
Source : Parago Home Press Release
